Anyone saying they want their watch valued means one of three things: a figure for insurance, an offer to sell, or the answer to whether the watch is genuine. Those three produce different outcomes. This article sets out which you need.
"Can I have my watch valued here?" We are asked almost daily, and the answer depends on something the question itself does not give away. Behind that one word sit three different questions, and anyone who gets the wrong one walks away with a figure that does not help.
Three kinds of valuation
1. The insurance valuation
This is a written report in which a valuer records what it would cost to replace the watch. That is the highest of the three figures, because the calculation is based on what you would have to spend to buy a comparable example today, not on what somebody will give you for it.
You need this when your insurer asks for it, usually for a valuable piece you want covered separately. Such a report should come from a certified valuer registered with a recognised valuation body, because otherwise the insurer will not accept it.
We do not do this. We are dealers and not sworn valuers, so we issue no reports for insurance purposes. If you need one, look for a valuer on a recognised register. If your insurer asks for something simpler, a purchase receipt or a description, that is a different matter.
2. The purchase assessment
This is what we do, and it is what most people mean. We look at your watch and say what we offer for it. That is a concrete figure, it carries no obligation, and it applies to your watch and not to the model in general.
Why that figure sits below an insurance value is set out in the article on what a Rolex is worth: three different figures circulate in the market and they are constantly confused.
3. The authentication
The question is then not what it is worth but whether it is what it says it is. That comes up above all with an inheritance or with a watch bought second-hand years ago without papers. We look at it and say what we see, even when the answer is unwelcome.
What you can start with yourself is set out in the article on spotting a fake. In short: there are a few checks you can do yourself, and they catch the bottom of the market and not the top.
How a purchase assessment works with us
Remotely
- You send the details and a few photos. Brand, model and, if you know it, the reference. Four photos are enough: the dial straight from above, the case from the side, the back and whatever else comes with it. In daylight and without flash.
- We go through the watch. Which reference and which generation, what state the case is in, whether the dial looks original and whether everything belongs together. On older watches that last point is the most work.
- If something is missing, we ask for it. We make no assumptions you find out about later. If a photo is unusable, we say which one we need.
- You hear what we offer within 24 hours. Every day of the week, weekends included.
- You decide. If you accept, we arrange to meet in Utrecht or you send the watch insured and at our expense, from abroad as well. If you turn it down, you keep your watch and nothing has happened.
At the counter
Then it goes faster, because the watch is in front of us. We are at Amsterdamsestraatweg 251 in Utrecht. On Wednesday and Thursday between 12:00 and 17:00 you can walk in without an appointment; on all other days we work by appointment, weekends included.
Bring what you have: the watch, the box and the papers if they exist, and valid photo ID. That last is no formality but a legal obligation on the dealer, and it applies to everyone who plays by the rules.
What not to do beforehand
- Do not have it polished. On most luxury watches the case consists of brushed surfaces with polished edges between them, and a buffing takes those edges away. It costs more than it earns and it cannot be put right.
- Do not replace parts to smarten it up. A new strap or a new crystal from another brand only muddies the picture. Leave it as it is and say what is not original on it.
- Do not clean it yourself with products. A dry cloth is enough. Cleaning products get between the links and under the bezel and stay there.
- Do not conceal a fault. A movement that does not run, a date that does not change over, a chronograph that will not reset to zero: simply say so. We will see it anyway, and saying so at once keeps the conversation simple.
What you can expect from us
We buy every brand and there is no lower limit: a watch that has stopped, or whose box and papers are missing, or that is damaged. Nothing is turned down in advance.
What you do not get with it is a written valuation report, because that is the document a sworn valuer exists for. What you do get is a concrete offer with the reasoning alongside, so you can repeat what it is based on and set it beside another offer.
In short
If you want a figure for your insurer, go to a certified valuer. If you want to know what your watch will fetch, or whether it is genuine, we can help. Come by in Utrecht or send a few photos; within 24 hours you hear what we offer, and you are committed to nothing.
